November 20, 2013 (Jacumba Hot Springs) – A hearing on December 23 will determine whether  or not Mikel Marshall, a sexually violent predator, will be released in rural East County.

Marshall spent 14 years in prison for molesting four boys, ages four to eight.  In each case, he was known to the families of his victims. He was later committed to a state mental hospital and completed an in-patient program for sex offenders.  A court has ruled that he can now be released; the Department of State Hospitals has proposed that he be placed at 42920 Desert Rose Ranch Road in Jacumba Hot Springs.

November 18, 2013 (San Diego) – Three local Somali immigrants have been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller for providing support to foreign terrorists. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy today revealed that evidence included intercepted phone calls regarding assassinations, suicide bombing and Jihad.

 Basaaly Saeed Moalin, a cabdriver, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted by a federal jury of providing material support to the terrorist group al-Shabaab. At the same hearing,  Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, the imam at a popular mosque frequented by the city’s immigrant Somali community, was sentenced to 13 years in prison; Issa Doreh, who worked at a money transmitting business that was the conduit for moving the illicit funds, was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison.

November 17, 2013 (Ramona) – A Ramona resident and a transient have been arrested for the attempted murder of a San Diego Police officer in Poway last night after shots were fired during a traffic stop.

By Miriam Raftery

November 14, 2013 (San Diego) – Four bodies have been found buried in shallow graves in the desert at  Victorville ;  Missing Persons of America reports that a family member has confirmed that  two of the bodies have been confirmed to be Joey and Summer McStay.  Two other bodies discovered have not yet been identified, but may be those of their young children, Joseph and Gianni.

The Fallbrook family vanished in February 2010, prompting an intensive search and national media coverage. 

“The news has hit me hard.  I wondered for three years where they went, but I never ever thought anything like this,” said Jerrie Dean, founder of Missing Persons of America and host of the “Missing” segment on East County Magazine’s radio show.

Suspect remains at large

November 9, 2013 (El Cajon) – An argument between several men in an El Cajon parking lot ended in gunfire last night, with a bullet striking a woman in her 20s.  One of three children in the vehicle was also injured by broken glass.

Deputies from the Santee Sheriff’s station responded  at 5:09 p.m. to a report of shots fired at 340 East Bradley Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon.  The woman, seated in an SUV at Graves and Bradley, had a bullet wound in her shoulder and a child was struck in the arm by shattered glass. Paramedics from Lakeside Fire took the woman to a hospital, where she was treated for a non-life threatening wound.

Update 6:30 p.m. -- The kidnapped baby has been found safe and the father has been taken into custody near the border by Mexican authorities working in cooperation with U.S. law enforcement.

Novmeber 6, 2013 (San Diego)--A statewide Amber alert has been issued for a man suspected of abducting his infant son from Sunnyvale California.   His vehicle has been sighted in San Diego and his cell phone has also been traced to here.  The suspect, 22-year-old Mesut Guler, was last seen driving a tan 2004 GMC Envoy with license place 6HL892. It has a large American eagle on the rear window.

The suspect is a Turkish man, six feet tall, weighing 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. The two-week old infant, Henry Guler-Romero, is described as Hispanic with black hair and brown eyes.

The suspect reportedly told the mother he was leaving the state with the child and has previously threatened to harm both himself and the baby.

October 31, 2013 (Ramona) – Danny Shaw, a convicted sex offender, was arrested this evening for annoying children and slipping candy into a child’s bag at the Ramona Chamber of Commerce’s Main Street Trick or Treat event.

October 22, 2013 (El Cajon) – A passerby who witnessed a woman being abducted at knifepoint in the Grossmont College parking lot today scared off the assailant by honking his horn. Sheriff’s deputies located and arrested the suspect, Anthony Washington.

“Washington later confessed he was going to rape the student and do whatever he had to in order to get his way,” said Sergeant Vic Perry.

October 20, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – On October 17, a shoulder-tap operation was conducted by the Sheriff’s Department and other agencies to see if retail outlets are illegally selling alcohol to minors in Santee, Alpine, Lakeside, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, and unincorporated El Cajon.

Deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, Agents from Alcohol Beverage Control, and three minor decoys conducted a "Minor Decoy" and "Shoulder Tap" Operation at various locations in the East County. The operation involved minors who tested "on-sale" and "off-sale" establishments. The minor decoys tested retailers and servers at a number of locations in an attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages inside their establishments. Three employees sold alcohol to the decoys.

By Miriam Raftery

October 18, 2013 (La Mesa) – It was no laughing matter when a man in a bloody clown mask walked into a 7-11 store on Amaya in La Mesa at 4:34 a.m. yesterday morning.  The suspect, armed with a gun and mace, ordered a clerk to lie down on the ground, then robbed the store of cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets.  A search was conducted but the suspect remains at large.

The man wore a blue sweatshirt, blue jeans, black gloves, and black and white  tennis shoes along with the mask.  He is 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a medium build.

By Miriam Raftery; photo courtesy ECM news partner 10 News

October 12, 2013 (Spring Valley ) – Eugene William Volk, 45, has been arrested and charged with arson in connection with the fire at Santa Sophia Church on October 8. 

Detective Calvert, lead investigator from the San Diego Sheriff's Department, developed sufficient probable cause to arrest Volk, said Detective Portillo-with the Sheriff’s Bomb Arson unit which located Volk walking less than a quarter mile from the church at the intersection of Campo Road and Conrad Drive  on October 13.  Authorities have not revealed what evidence they believe links Volk to the crime.

By Miriam Raftery

October 7, 2013 (Ramona) – A woman accused of murdering her mother has entered a not guilty plea.  The body of Mehria Mansury, 79, an Afghan immigrant, was found  in a field near San Vicente and Wildcat Canyon Road east of Barona Casino last week. 

Mansury was a resident of Serra Mesa. She  was last seen September 23 and was reported missing on September 25. Relatives told authorities that they feared her daughter, who has a criminal record, could be involved, ECM news partner 10 News reported.

October 3, 2013 (Ramona) – The San Diego Narcotics Task Force served search warrants and seized over 8,500 marijuana plants being grown illegally at three outdoor locations on September 24 and 25.   The crops had a cash value of $4.6 million and caused damage to an ecological preserve and open spaces, according to the Sheriff.

October 1, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) –San Diego’s Sheriff seeks public help to located Sean Colin McRea, 35.  He is wanted for making terrorist threats to harm his wife and for reckless driving while intoxicated. A felony warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court regarding a Sheriff’s investigation in unincorporated El Cajon 

He has a military background and is believed to have access to weapons; he is believed to be armed and dangerous.